No state competes with Kentucky

Kentucky is a great place to live. The bluegrass state takes a lot of flack, some of it fair, a lot of it overblown. Mostly, when you hear about Kentucky, you hear about basketball or a redneck joke.

There are plenty of rednecks in this area, but not all of those necks are red because of farm labor. Some of us have red necks because we spend our time riding the road.

Name for me a more beautiful piece of land to bike in this country of ours than Kentucky? You can’t. You might name some that compete, some that should be mentioned in the same sentence, but I won’t hear it if you think any place actually beats Kentucky.

I bring this up because I recently got into a discussion with some bikers from Texas. Now that’s a state to make a biker weep: big and flat and boring all across. But they say different. Of course they do, if you’ve ever met anyone from Texas, they are positive to a ridiculous degree that everything is better in Texas.

But I’ve ridden their roads, and I can say it doesn’t match up to Kentucky. Texas is fine for what it is. It’s hot. It’s got cowboys. It’s got a few nice cities and a lot of space in between them to ride, but it doesn’t have the beauty of Kentucky. Kentucky’s in a class of its own. There’s just something about the environment.

Now, if these folks had been from Tennessee or West Virginia, I might be willing to concede a little more. Those states have a lot to brag about as well in terms of natural beauty, but Texas? Come on, it’s not even a competition.

I’m not saying we don’t have our faults here. We could use a few more of those Texas straight roads and some of that Texas space to really open up and ride like the wind. And we have our share of accidents and our share of problems like every state.

But none of that takes away from Kentucky’s unbeatable looks. She’s a ten. She’s perfect. And no other girl at the dance is even close.

I’ve got myself so worked up talking about her, and I think I’ve got to get out and take her in now. The leaves have changed, it’s early morning. I reckon I could get from Louisville to Bowling Green by lunch, and what a ride that’ll be.